Prizes

Prizes awarded by the DFG recognise researchers for outstanding research achievements under various aspects, as well as international research cooperation and science communication. Individuals cannot usually nominate themselves for a prize, but must instead be nominated by others. The decisive criterion is the quality of the researchers’ work. Recipients are free to use the prize money for their research in any way they choose.

  • Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize
    The Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Programme awards prizes to exceptional scientists and academics for their outstanding achievements in the field of research.Interner LinkHeinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize
  • The Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize,
    named after the physicist and former president of the DFG, is a distinction for young researchers and provides further incentive for excellent achievements in their research work.
  • Communicator Award
    The “Communicator Award – Science Award of the Donors' Association" is awarded by the DFG. This personal award, worth €50,000, is given to researchers who have communicated their scientific findings to the public with exceptional success.
  • von Kaven Award
    The von Kaven Award is presented each year to an outstanding EU-based mathematician.
  • Bernd Rendel Prize in Geosciences
    The DFG has been awarding the Bernd Rendel Prize annually since 2002 to young geoscientists with a Diplom or master's degree who do not yet hold a doctorate (in the disciplines of geology, palaeontology, mineralogy, geochemistry, geophysics, geodesy or oceanography, as well as physical geography or soil science, as long as the individual's work has a clear link with at least one of the first disciplines in this list).
  • Ursula M. Händel Animal Welfare Prize
    The Ursula M. Händel-Prize recognises scientists who have made exemplary and sustained efforts to improve the welfare of animals in research.
  • Copernicus Award
    The Copernicus Award is conferred every two years to two researchers, one in Germany and one in Poland, for outstanding achievements in German-Polish research cooperation. It is conferred jointly by the DFG and the Foundation for Polish Science (Fundacja na rzecz Nauki Polskiej, FNP).
  • Eugen and Ilse Seibold Prize
    The Eugen and Ilse Seibold Prize, donated by the marine geologist and former president of the DFG and his wife, serves to promote research and understanding between Germany and Japan.
  • Albert Maucher Prize in Geoscience
    The Albert Maucher Prize in Geoscience is awarded once every three years to early career researchers in recognition of outstanding research findings and original approaches. Researchers who already have a full professorship cannot be nominated.